Sydney Plus

Starting as we mean to go on, the year began with a run around the Pinnacles Nature Reserve.

And in the afternoon, a highly welcome cooling off and splashing about in a friend's pool.

Not a water baby

It is the time of year for agapanthus and, as I know my mother loves them, here are some pictures for her.

It's very hot (well, I call over 35 degrees hot) and because I am a foolish English person (of the Mad Dogs variety), I am often running about the parks. When I am not, I am rehearsing in sweltering theatres. Clearly, this is not me, but it is some of the lads rehearsing a scene from the latest play in which I'm performing, Oh, What a Lovely War!

'Pour la gloire!'

Having worked throughout Christmas and New Year, we had decided to take a break the following weekend to coincide with the final Ashes Test, so we caught the coach to Sydney, where it was a mere 47 degrees; thankfully our hotel had (extremely noisy) air conditioning.

Room with a view: Paddington, Sydney style

What better way to cope with the meltingly hot weather than catching trains and buses all over the inner western suburbs to visit craft breweries? 

Pallet bar for future reference

Beer by Akasha

Burgers by Brisket and Brawn BBQ Co

One of the pleasures of walking about town is stumbling across the street art, which I love for its colour and vibrancy, even when I have no idea what it is.

Yes, it's cider; yes, it was refreshing; no, I'm not apologising

Willie the Boatman

Displaying quite the range of flavour, style and colour at Batch Brewing Co.

Chapeau and 2Peach Shakur

Marrickville Roots GInger Ale and Trippy Hippy Citra XPA

Elsie the Milk Stout and Double Rainbow XXPA

The next day we headed to the cricket, passing the Korean War Memorial in Moore Park, which commemorates the Australian and Korean veterans of the Korean War (1950-1953) in which 339 Australians and 230,000 South Koreans died. 

The memorial design is the result of a design competition held in 2007. It features a circular stone wall enclosing the site symbolising strength, a central pathway based on the taeguk or yin and yang symbol found on the South Korean flag, a field of metal sculptures based on the Korean national flower, the Rose of Sharon, symbolising regeneration, and polished concrete blades representing the rugged mountains of Korea for remembrance.

The Korean War Memorial

 

We arrived at the cricket under a cloudless blue sky, where it was (and I can't stress this enough) baking hot. Temperatures on the field were recorded at 57 degrees. The English fieldsmen were struggling in the heat, and the bowlers could barely hold the ball, let alone spin it. They spent hours out there in practically gladiatorial conditions. 

The sun beats down on the SCG

Refreshments at The Local Taphouse

At lunch we retired to a nearby (1km up hill) pub with much-appreciated air conditioning, and afterwards the Aussies declared on a ridiculously high score (649) and put our exhausted blokes in to bat. 

In the way that when things aren't going your way, everything seems to conspire against you, there was slightly more cloud cover - conditions which would have suited the English spinners if it had occurred earlier. 

There wasn't much for the barmy army to cheer about but they were in fine voice as the afternoon wore on, and we saw Alastair Cook become the sixth batsman and first Englishman to score 12,000 runs in Test Cricket. And then he was out.

Notifications on the big screens exhorted us to stay hydrated and to consume lots of fluids (the cider was the best of the bland beverages on offer). Joe Root was unable to comply, however, and was taken to hospital overnight with vomiting, diarrhoea and severe dehydration. 

I seriously wonder why we expect sports men and women to compete in such hostile conditions. The same thing occurs frequently at the AUS Open in Melbourne and people say, 'they're paid enough that they should be able to put up with it', but no matter how fit or well paid one is, the human body has its limits, and hyperthermia can be fatal. Is it really reasonable to expect people to die for our entertainment because we've paid for it?

 

We made our way back to the hotel via a series of pubs - one every kilometre or so, stopping off for refreshments at Bitter Phew (where Him Outdoors chatted to a bunch of lads over for the cricket and I watched the bats flitter through the twilight) and Keg and Brew, where there is no filter on earth that can lessen the redness of my cricket face.

 

 

Graffiti on Fouveaux Street, Surry Hills

 

 

Keg and Brew tap list

It's been a long hot day

Beer and Bruce

We went out for 'romantic' Valentine's Day beers at Brew Nation. They turned out to be like any other beers, but with a rose. 

The following day we went to Manuka Oval to watch the cricket as the Prime Minister's XI took on Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka won convincingly by five wickets, and we got to see Lasith Malinga doing his stuff. 

 
 
 

Kevin of Pact was launching his new L-Yeah Hoppy Lager at The Durham and he requested that Him Outdoors wear the brown flowery shirt I bought him, as he felt it was appropriate for the brew. There was also a tap-takeover by Akasha Brewing, and the owner Wesley White was there representing his brewery.

Three Brewers

Later that evening I went to the Open Air Cinema to see Collateral Beauty, in which a successful NY advertiser (Will Smith) suffers personal tragedy and tries to come to terms with it by writing letters to Love, Time and Death. His friends are all very concerned for him and try to help him deal with his grief and loss. Sure, it’s full of mawkish sentimentality, but it was released at Christmas so what do you expect? The stellar cast (Helen Mirren; Ed Norton; Kate Winslet; Naomi Harris; Keira Knightley) are all under-used, and doubtless won’t be giving it top-billing on their acting CVs, but the film is perfectly adequate and in no way deserves the hateful criticism it received. I was, however, distracted by the bats flying past.

At the weekend I went to see The Boss with my boss. Bruce Springsteen was in concert at Hope Estate and we had free tickets so we drove up there to enjoy the spectacle.

Some Cafe at Collector on the way up

Hope Estate is a winery, so the wine and food was excellent. They do their own beer too, which is pretty good, but only a dodgy mid-strength lager was for sale that day. We got some smoked salmon salad and, as there was no shelter and a massive downpour, we also got drenched. 

Posh nosh at the gig

Jet played the warm-up set beneath glowering skies. They were pretty good and got things going with crowd favourites She's a Genius, Are You Gonna Be My Girl and Look What You've Done among others.

And then the sun came out and we danced and sang along with Bruce.

He did all the stadium rock stuff of getting audience members up on stage to do a number with him (No Surrender, Waiting on a Sunny Day, Dancing in the Dark); holding out the microphone for the crowd to sing along with the chorus; incorporating lots of instruments; and jamming with his band.

Up close and personal with E Street Band guitarist, Stevie Van Zandt

The fans loved it, there was lots of dancing and singing, and it all went on for three hours as he played his working-man-driven music and people punched the air with feeling. The River, Youngstown and Glory Days were highlights for me, as he seemed to give them meaning and roots. 

We slept in the truck (although it was hot, uncomfortable and full of mosquitoes so not much actual sleeping was done) and in the morning we examined the state of our feet.

Outdoor gig feet

The truck gathered some of the forest's bounty and the grille looked like it had been festooned with potpourri, which I thought looked pretty cool.